THE STUDENT COUNCIL

By Wednesday, Amy was ready to venture out of the house, at least under the cover of night. At nine o’clock, she arrived at the mall to check out her new school.

Passing Pizzarama first, she paused to look through the windows. As she’d heard, the seating area was gone and the kitchen was under expansion, doubling in size. The owners had to be pleasantly stunned, wondering how fortunes could change so quickly. The pizza shop was about to become the highest volume eatery in all of Venango County.

Amy continued down the covered sidewalk, gazing into new classrooms with their rows of computer screens. The entire front of the mall was floor to ceiling windows, open to view from that single side only. A lot like a dollhouse. Oil City’s Barbies and Kens had a new place to play.

She stopped in front of the old Forever Fit location. Per her request, the space had been left untouched. One wall was still fully mirrored. Interlocking rubber mats covered the floor. The owner had walked away from the business instead of relocating it, leaving lots of value behind. Amy stuck her key into the door lock.

“Excuse me,” a deep voice said from behind her. “Who are you?”

Amy spun around, startled. A thin-faced man of about fifty, tan jacket and matching pants, stood three feet away. She said, “I’m somebody who doesn’t like being snuck up on like that.”

His eyes went right to the bruise on her face. “I’m Detective ... make that Mister ... Sorvino. And you are?”

“I’m none of your business. Keep your distance.”

He smiled. “Miss, I work for the high school. Security.”

She took two steps to the side, creating more comfortable separation. “Since when does the mall need security?” Google never mentioned anything about that.

He forced her to look at another smile. “Didn’t you hear? Some boys burned down your high school a couple weeks ago.”

“What’s gonna burn here? The building’s steel and aluminum.”

He glanced up at the structure and nodded. “There’s always vandalism. Seven hundred new computers in there.”

“Well, enjoy looking out for vandals. I’m going inside.”

Mr. Sorvino looked down at the key in the lock. “You’re a school district employee?”

“I’m a student. This building belongs to my family.”

“You must be Amy Westin.”

She felt uneasy. The man was a total stranger, out of place. Did he know her father? “That’s right.” She reached for the door.

“The building’s under lease to the school district. Why do you have a key?”

She wasn’t about to mention Paul. He might get in trouble for loaning out his. “I just told you. We’re the owners. We need access for emergencies.”

Sorvino reached past her and turned the key, opening the door. “What’s the problem then? This is just an empty area.”

The guy was a damn mosquito! “Listen, I can see where you’d get lonely on crime watch or whatever, but I’m not the evening’s entertainment. Just go back to what you were doing.”

He chuckled. “You’re a handful, aren’t you? Explain the emergency so I can put it in my report.”

Did he really call her a handful? Really? “Write down that I was checking the toilets, okay? Making sure they flushed properly.”

“Who hit you?” he asked, nodding toward her injury.

“I fell the other day. On the stairs at home.”

The security guard shook his head. “I was a cop my whole life, Amy Westin. Somebody clipped you. Probably a lefty, but it could have been a backhand.”

She wondered if he’d been a tool his whole life too. “I fell. There were plenty of witnesses.”

He took a small writing tablet from his back pocket. “I’m sure there was at least one witness. Tell me who hit you and it won’t happen again. I don’t tolerate that kind of thing.”

She was suddenly concerned. He had called himself Detective. He was smart. Uncomfortably smart. What the hell was he doing working night security? “Where were you a detective?” She thought she heard some Pittsburgh in his voice.

“City of Pittsburgh. Twenty-four years.”

“What are you doin’ in Oily City?”

“Oily ... that’s funny. I retired. Took this job to stay busy.”

Amy wondered how walking around an empty school qualified as busy. The pay had to be chump change. Mr. Sorvino was all red flags. He needed to be gone straight away. To accomplish that, she’d need all the information she could get. Honey, she reminded herself. Not vinegar. “I’m sorry if I seemed rude at first. I’m not good with strangers. I came here to see how the place looked. Maybe you could show me around if you aren’t too busy.”

Walking home from the Allegheny Mall, Amy touched Google’s number. He answered instantly. “Where are you?” she asked.

“Sitting in my basement with your boyfriend. Sounds like you’re outside. Thought I heard a car.”

Amy heard Fred’s voice in the background. “That’s Amy? I’m her boyfriend?”

She shook her head. How could Fred be so bright and such a cow pie at the same time? “Walkin’ home from the school. You two are buds now?”

“I’m showing him computer stuff, that’s all.

“Go to the bathroom. We need to talk.”

A moment later, Amy heard the distinct sound of urine hitting water. “Google, are you doing what I think you are?”

“Just following orders. Whew! I needed that.”

An hour earlier, she might have laughed. “There’s a security guard at the mall. You didn’t tell me anything about that.”

“Didn’t think it was important. There’s going to be security day and night. The district got all that money from the state. Remember?”

“I told William not to spend it! You guys are supposed to be keeping costs down.”

Google coughed. “To be honest, we sort of lost our credibility when we insisted on paying so much for the mall lease. Know what I mean?”

Amy knew exactly. She had gotten too greedy. Like a kid in a candy store. “The district hired a former police detective from out of town. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?”

“If you mean there are plenty of local people who could have been hired to stand around, yeah.”

“We need to know the whole story! Why him? Have Berman talk to the principal, superintendent, whoever. His name is Louis Sorvino, long time employee of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police.”

“I’ll check it out.”

“Google, I’m disappointed by this. This security stuff shouldn’t have happened without council approval.”

“Sorry, but we did approve it. Didn’t seem worth arguing about.”

Amy started up her driveway, fighting off her anger. “Good night, Google. You’re my best friend. Tell Fred I said hi.”

“Wanna come over?”

“I’m putting my beautiful face to bed. You should get some rest too. You’ve been putting in twenty-hour days.”

“It’s hard to sleep at all. Why don’t you come to school tomorrow?”

“Next week for me.”

After entering through the back door, Amy ran into her mother in the kitchen. She wore a sheer, white nightgown and held a wine bottle in her left hand. Two stemmed glasses hung between fingers of the right.

“How was the movie?” Amy asked. Her parents had gone to the theater together – first time in years.

“We had a great time. Where were you?”

“Too busy to check your messages? I was over looking at the mall. Is that a new gown?”

Her mother grinned and nodded. “Glad you’re home, sweetheart. Get a good night’s sleep.”

Amy followed Emily up the first flight of stairs. The nightgown was transparent in the light. Her mother was naked beneath it, clearly going for the gold. Amy was so mesmerized by Emily’s figure that she had to laugh. How many sixteen-year-olds envied their mother’s rear end?

The daughter watched her mother walk down the hall and enter her bedroom. She closed the door behind her. Closed the damn door! Yes! Total victory!

Climbing the second flight, Amy still saw a naked angel in front of her, leading the way. Her hair was no longer short and white blond. It was long, wavy, and the color of honey. She wondered what the real Trisha might doing at that very moment. Hopefully, the teacher was thinking of her.

After a warm, languid shower, Amy reached for a hanging bath towel out of habit. Instead of grabbing it, she left the bathroom and walked to her bed, dripping on the oak floor. The pink towel was beneath her pillow. Using that, she patted and rubbed herself dry for the next half hour.